Coil handling apparatus



May 25, 1954 E. R. MUDDIMAN COIL HANDLING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTORI Filed July 11, 1947 4211 EMz/aawqv,

HIS ATTORNEY.

May 25, 1954 E. R. MUDDIMAN COIL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed July 11. 19473 Sheets-Sheet 2 54211 E -M U00/ INVENTORI HIS ATTORN EY.

May 25, 1954 E. R. MUDDIMAN COIL HANDLING APPARATUS -3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed July 11, 1947 INVENTOR.

MN m Hi5 ATTORNEY.

Patented May 25, 1954 COIL HANQM APBAItAT-US Earl! R. Muddiman,'Wilkinsburg,

Pa, ass sno o United States Steel Corporation, a'corporation of NewJersey App i a ion July 11, 1947, Seria o- 769,3 6

9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for handling sheet metal coilsduring processing, and particu ar y to app ra u for p ition n co forengagement by uncoiling mandrels,

A bject of the in ention i to provid improved handlins ppar u for mchanica l poit onins coils fo n a e by noo ling me drels, irrespectiveof varying outside coil diameter Fu the o jec f he i ve ion ar to ovi hadl ng app r tu having improved mechanism for elevating coils andautomatically stop.- pins ver ical m vement at mand l l a to provid imprd ap aratus faci itatin .furthe p ocessi such s t p r ro l n o oil i h aess lik l h d o coil d m el i com lish n t s nd her o e t of t e pre enin en 1 av r ided m ov s u tural deta l pr f r e orms o h ch a e hown int e ac o pa yin drawings, wh reip Figure 1 is a top plan view of a coilhandling a pa atu m od ea s of t resen nept n a in t l d be een h e ryram and ne i s me dr su as th e p eding a t m r l n s a d;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the a pa atu take su ta t allyon line H o Figure Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the lowerportion of the apparatus taken substantially on l ne ll-11; o u e 1;

Figure l is a vertical sectional view taken subs en ie ly n l I' -31 ofFigure l and o ing one form of mechanism for stopping vertical movementwhen the coil is at mandrel level; and

Figure 5 is a schematic view of a modified mechanism for similarlystopping vertical movement.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

In Figure 2 there is shown at H) an inclined entry ramp substantially atfloor level on which coils H of sheet metal are placed by suitablehandling or conveying mechanism. The entry ramp includes the usualretractible stop I 2 which restrains coil movement until it is desiredto place a coil on the uncoiling mandrels, designated 13. Said mandrelsare of any usual construction, but ordinarily include retracti'blefingers l4 engageable with the inside of coil ll. The mandrels arerotatable on a fixed horizontal axis, and in temper mills have mechanismfor restraining rotation and thereby tensioning the strip. The equipmentthus far described is conventional and hence is not described in greaterdetail.

. the present in n on hasdles coils between entry ramp l9 and mandrels 3and comprises a c adle 15 suppor ed n a a iase 5, eferably loca ed i apit l1 e eath floor level. Mechanism is provided fror moving s id cradlver ically a ho z ntally to cony soil fr m ram I .0 t m d el e in pos ton, he crad e ha a d wnward sl pi g e n I9 and pwa dly slopin ct n 29and F gure 2- W en the cradle is in pos t t receive a coi i om entr rampI e (the do ted line position of Figure 2) section 19 forms a cone i uon of said ramp- On ret c i n o o 12, a Coil 'o s f om amp 0 onto therad e.

Carriag t include a horiz nta ly b vertically fixed outer box 22, Saidbox is supported within pit I! on guides 24 which constrain carriagemovement to a horizontal path. A rearwardly extending floor plate 25 isatfixed to the upper edge of box 22 to Cover the pit H. The guidespreferably include flanged wheels 26 r a a y mounted on the carr age andridi g on rails 2'] fixed to shelves on the sides of the pit, as bestshown in Figures 2 and 3. Preferab y ydrau i r eumat pi a cyl nd means ae v ded o movin th c rria e, although the invention is not limited toany particular motive means.

inner box 29 is mounted within outer box 22 for relative verticalmovement. Cradle l5 is supported at the top of box 29. A pair ofextensible supply pipes 23 are supported in the pit and are connected toa hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder 30. Said cylinder is fixed withinouter box 22 and contains a piston 3|. Said piston is connected withinner box 29 by a flange 3-2 on the piston and a bracket 33 on saidinner box, whereby the inner box, cradle and a coil thereon are raisedor lowered on piston movement.

After a coil has been placed on the cradle, as shown in the dotted lineposition of Figure 2 said cradle is elevated to locate the coil centerat mandrel level, which is somewhat higher than the level of the entryramp, or of the cradle at this position. Since there is variation incoil outside diameters, positioning is in accordance with the inside ofthe coil. Means are provided 'llhe apparatus of I for automaticallystopping vertical movement when the coil reaches mandrel level.

As best shown in Figures 1 and 4, one form of stop means includes a pairof vertically disposed guides 34 and 35 supported adjacent the cradle. Ahorizontally extending cylinder 3'5 is mounted on said guides forrelative vertical movement. A limit switch 31 is fixed to said guidesabove said cylinder in position to be actuated on upward 3 movement ofthe cylinder. The cylinder contains an extensible and retractiblespindle 38 adapted for projection within the coil central opening.

After a coil is placed on the cradle, spindle 38 is projected. Thecradle and coil are lifted by operation of piston 3| in cylinder 30. Thelower inside face of the coil engages spindle 38 and lifts said spindleand cylinder 36, until the latter actuates limit switch 3l. Actuation ofthe switch stops upward movement of the coil, any suitable mechanismbeing provided for the purpose, as, for example, a solenoid 60 and avalve 6| operated by said solenoid and situated in the fluid line tocylinder 30, as shown schematically in Figure 2. The, design is suchthat limit switch 31 is actuated when the coil reaches mandrel level.Following switch actuation, spindle 33 is retracted.

After being raised, carriage I6 is moved forward horizontally byactuation of piston and cylinder means 28. A flanged stop 39 in the pathof the carriage stops horizontal movement when the coil is verticallyaligned with the mandrels, the full line position of Figure 2.

The mechanism just described thus aligns the coil axially with mandrelsI3. The latter may be projected into the coil and fingers [4 extended toengage and support the coil for unwinding. After the mandrels engage thecoil, cradle I is lowered and its horizontal movement reversed, beingthereby returned to the dotted line position of Figure 2. While the coilon the mandrels is unwinding, another coil may be placed on cradle l5and elevated ready to be moved forward to mandrel engaging position.

Figure 5 shows schematically a modified construction whereinphotoelectric means are employed for stopping cradle vertical movement.As shown in Figure 5, a light source 5| is provided for projecting abeam through the coil central opening. A photoelectric cell 52 ismounted at the opposite side of the coil in a position to be energizedby light source 5 I. As the coil is raised, it reaches a position wherethe path between light source 5! and cell 52 is interrupted by the coilmaterial. The circuit through the cell is thereby broken, openingswitches of photoelectric relay 53. This action corresponds to actuationof limit switch 3? and causes vertical movement to cease through anysuitable mechanism.

It is seen that the present invention provides handling apparatus thatmechanically positions coils accurately for mandrel engagement. Coilhandling is thus greatly facilitated, and coil damage caused by mandrelengagement is minimized due to accurate placement of the coils beforesuch engagement.

While I have shown but certain embodiments of the invention, it isapparent that further modifications may arise. Therefore I do not wishto be limited by the disclosure set forth, but only by the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for handling coils of sheet material comprising a carriage,a cradle mounted on said carriage for relative vertical movement, meansin said carriage for elevating said cradle, and means for stopping saidelevating means when a coil on said cradle reaches a predeterminedlevel, said stop means including a spindle adapted to be projected intothe coil opening and being engageable with the wall of the opening,means mounting said spindle for relative vertical movement, and a limitswitch with which said spindle mounting means is engageable for stoppingactuation of said elevating means.

2. An apparatus for transferring coils of strip material from an entryramp to a rotatable uncoiling mandrel comprising a cradle adapted toreceive coils from the ramp, means for elevating said cradle, a stopadapted to act on the portion of a coil body adjacent the centralopening thereof for automatically stopping upward movement of saidcradle when a coil thereon attains mandrel level, and means for movingsaid cradle horizontally toward the mandrel and thus in a singlehorizontal motion positioning a previously elevated coil for engagementby the mandrel.

3. An apparatus for transferring coils of strip material from an entryramp to a rotatable uncoiling mandrel comprising a carriage supportedfor horizontal movement in a direction perpendicular to the axis ofrotation of the mandrel, a cradle supported on said carriage forrelative vertical movement and adapted to receive coils from the ramp,means for elevating said cradle after it has received a coil, a stopadapted to act on the portion of a coil body adjacent the centralopening thereof for automatically stopping upward movement of saidcradle when a coil thereon attains mandrel level, and means for movingsaid carriage and said cradle horizontally toward the mandrel after saidcradle has been elevated and thus in a single horizontal motionpositioning a previously elevated coil for engagement by the mandrel.

4. The combination with an entry ramp and an uncoiling mandrel which isspaced longitudinally from the terminus of said ramp, and is rotatableon a horizontal axis, of an apparatus for transferring coils of stripmaterial from said ramp to said mandrel comprising a carriage supportedfor horizontal movement between said ramp and a point beneath saidmandrel, a cradle supported on said carriage for relative verticalmovement, said carriage and said cradle having a position in which saidcradle forms a continuation of said ramp for receiving a coil therefrom,means for elevating said cradle after it has received'a coil and whilethe preceding coil is still on said mandrel, a stop adapted to act onthe portion of a coil body adjacent the central opening thereof forautomatically stopping upward movement of said cradle when a coilthereon attains mandrel level, and means for moving said carriage andsaid cradle horizontally to a position under the mandrel axis after saidcradle has been elevated and the preceding coil exhausted and thus in asingle horizontal motion positioning the new coil for engagement by saidmandrel.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said stop includes aspindle adapted to project into the central opening of a coil and toengage the coil body adjacent the central opening thereof when saidcradle is elevated and a limit switch operated by said spindle onengagement by the latter with the coil.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which said stop includes alight source adapted to cast a beam through the coil opening, aphotoelectric cell on the opposite side of the coil opening adapted tobe de-energized when the coil body adjacent the central opening thereofinterrupts the beam, and a switch operated by said photoelectric cell onde-energization thereof.

17. A power-driven automatic locating gear for locating a loadrelatively to a predetermined axis comprising a base frame, a cradlemovable relatively to said frame and serving to receive the load,gauging means arranged to assess the relevant dimensions of said loadupon said cradle, operating means for moving said cradle, and controlmeans responsive to said gauging means for causing said operating meansto locate the load relative to the predetermined axis.

8. A power-driven automatic locating gear for locating a load relativelyto a predetermined axis comprising a base frame, a cradle movablerelatively to said frame and serving to receive the load, gauging meansarranged to assess the relevant dimensions of said load upon saidcradle, operating means for elevating said cradle, and control meansresponsive to said gauging means for causing said operating means tocenter said load relative to said predetermined axis.

9. A power-driven automatic locating gear as claimed in claim 8, saidcontrol means comprising a control member, said gauging means beingmovable vertically with said cradle relatively to said control memberand serving to actuate said control member to control said operatingmeans.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,156,695 Klein May 2, 1939 2,193,765 Krengle Mar. 12, 19402,198,644 Wettengel Apr. 30, 1940 2,207,893 Nash July 16, 1940 2,268,693Boyer Jan. 6, 1942 2,281,423 Egge Apr. 28, 1942 2,419,699 Wood Apr. 29,1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 614,944 Germany June 22, 1935

